README npm install section mentions Python and C/C++ but they are no longer needed

[u1f992]

The README's npm install section says:

To install the npm package you will need Python and C/C++ installed to build one of the dependencies (see, e.g., here for instructions).

This hasn't been true since v0.50.0. PR #585 removed node-pty from the published package, and build/patch-packagejson.js strips all dependencies before npm pack, so the tarball on npm has no deps to install at all.

Quick check with node:24-slim, which has no build toolchain:

$ docker run --rm node:24-slim sh -c "which python3 || echo 'not found'; which gcc || echo 'not found'; which make || echo 'not found'"
not found
not found
not found

$ docker run --rm node:24-slim sh -c "npm install -g @devcontainers/cli 2>&1 && npm list -g && devcontainer --version"
added 1 package in 1s
/usr/local/lib
+-- @devcontainers/cli@0.86.0
+-- corepack@0.34.6
`-- npm@11.11.0

0.86.0

Installs and runs fine without any build toolchain.

The prerequisite note and the link to the VS Code "How to Contribute" wiki should be removed from this section.

Related

• Simplify install process #63
• Publish without node-pty dependency #585